Pop&#39;s adjustable holster

ABSTRACT

A gun holster for holding a pistol inside a person&#39;s pants having Velcro fastening means located diagonally across the bottom rear side of a bendable panel and a strip of Velcro material attached to the fastening means. A keeper means having an upward extending clip is adapted to engage the fastening means. A pouch is formed for receiving a pistol by bending the panel along a line located above the fastening means. The position of the keeper means on the fastening means can be varied to adjust both the height that the pistol holder is carried inside the person&#39;s pants and the canter or pitch of the pistol holster&#39;s position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a holster for a handgun and, more specifically, to a holster including a size-adjustable pocket and a clip for securing the holster under a wearer's clothing wherein the position of the clip can be varied to adjust both the height that the pistol holster is carried inside the person's pants and the canter or pitch of the pistol holster's position.

2. Description of Related Art

Law enforcement officers and other persons who are authorized to carry a weapon often want to carry a handgun concealed on their body. This means that the handgun is completely concealed after a person removes his coat or other outer garment. Thus, holsters designed for carrying handguns partially or completely concealed are not new, and are known in the prior art. More specifically, by way of example, U.S. PreGrant Publication No. 2008/0105721 to Har-Shen discloses a retention member with a friction producing portion for mounting a hand gun on a user's pants or belt that increases the gripping power between the holster and the user's hip.

U.S. PreGrant Publication No. 2005/0211739 to Bayless discloses a concealed weapons holster having an elastic belt, two loop sliders of loop Velcro to go over the belt with hanging straps of hook Velcro attached to the loops for vertical adjustment.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,079 to Skaggs discloses a size-adjustable holster for handguns where the holster's body has a flat sheet with corresponding hook and loop fasteners on each side, which allows it to wrap around a pistol. A clip is attached to the body for securing the holster to the wearer's clothing.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,003 to Nichols discloses a holster for a handgun which includes a pouch for releasably receiving the handgun and an outer panel secured to the pouch with an attachment device for attaching the pouch to a belt or waistband.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,670 to Gallagher discloses a paddle for a holster. When the paddle is attached to the holster, the paddle slides over the belt and inside the waist of the pants of a user to bind the pants intermediate the paddle and holster. When the holster is grasped and pulled away from the body of the user, the paddle firmly engages the pants of the user to prevent the holster from being pulled free from the user's person.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,465 to Johnson discloses a handgun holster that can conceal a handgun on a person who is wearing only walking shorts and no shirt by enveloping the grip end of the handgun inside a pouch that appears to be a large truckers wallet protruding slightly from the pants pocket or walking shorts pocket and camouflaging the muzzle end of the handgun in the lower part of the front pants pocket or walking shorts pocket by adding a block of material to break up the outline of the handgun.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is disclosed a gun holster for holding a pistol inside of a person's pants comprising:

a bendable panel having a front side and a rear side;

fastening means having hooks or loops located diagonally across the bottom of the rear side of the panel from left to right;

a strip of loop or hook material attached at one end to the bottom right corner of the fastening means and a second end which extends down beyond the edge of the panel;

a buckle adapted to receive the second end of the strip attached to the front side of the panel; and

keeper means having a clip that extends out from the top of the keeper means and has loops or hooks adapted to engage the fastening means;

wherein a pouch is formed for receiving a pistol by bending the panel along a line located above the fastening means and attaching the second end of the strip of loop and hook material to the fastening means after threading it through the buckle;

wherein the position of the keeper means on the fastening means can be varied to adjust both the height that the pistol holder is carried inside the person's pants and the canter or pitch of the pistol holster's position.

The more important features of the invention have thus been outlined in order that the more detailed description that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may better be appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter and will form the subject matter of the claims that follow.

Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, the preferred feature of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention and that such other structures do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the appended claim, and the accompanying drawings in which similar elements are given similar reference numerals.

FIG. 1 is a rear view of a panel which, when folded upon itself and held in the folded position with a strap fastening means forms a gun holster in accordance with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the panel of FIG. 1 which when the bottom is bent into the page along indicated dash lines and held in the bent position with a strap fastening means forms a gun holster in accordance with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a view of the rear of the gun holster ready for use showing keeper means which is removably attached to the gun holster and which provides the ability to adjust the height that the gun is carried inside the pants of a user and, at the same time, is used to adjust the canter or pitch of the holster's position; and

FIG. 4 is a view of the front of the gun holster of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated devices, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a rear view of a panel 10 which, when folded upon itself along the indicated dash lines and held in the folded position with a strap fastening means forms the outer surface a gun holster in accordance with the principles of the invention. The panel includes an inner layer 12 and an outer layer 14 laminated together to form a flexible two ply panel. The inner layer is made of a flexible sheet of Gore Tex or any abrasive resistant material and the outer layer 14 is made of a sheet of soft fabric of cotton or wool. A strip of material 16 in the shape of a U is sewed around the outer edge of the panel to form a welt. Located below the dash lines 18 which indicates where the panel is bent to form a pocket for holding a gun there is located a large square of loop material 18 of hook and loop material which is known as Velcro. It is understood that where Velcro is used as the fastening means, when hook material is used on one surface, loop material is used on the other surface and visa versa. The square of loop material 18 is about two inches by four and one-half inches, more or less and is securely attached to the outer layer of the panel with an adhesive such as an Epoxy which is located around its perimeter of the square of loop material or with stitching which is located around its perimeter. The panel may have a height 20 of about nine inches more or less and an overall width 22 of about six inches, more or less. A strap 24 having a length of about four and one half inches, more or less is attached to the lower right end of the large square of loop material with stitching or with an adhesive. A strip of loop material 26 is attached to the surface of the strap 24.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a front view of the panel 10 of FIG. 1 which, when the bottom is bent into the page along dash lines 17 and held in the bent position with a strap fastening means, a gun holster is formed in accordance with the principles of the invention. Attached to the front of the panel with stitching or with an adhesive is a strap 28 having a buckle 30 which is positioned to receive the strap 26 when the panel is bent along fold lines 17.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a view of the rear of the gun holster ready for use showing a keeper means 32 which is removably attached to the large square of loop material on the gun holster. The keeper consists of a square of material approximately two inches in width by three and one quarter inches in length, more or less, with a rigid plastic clip retainer 34 which projects out from one end and has two slots 36, 38. The rear surface of the keeper is covered with a square of hook material and slot 36 in the clip retainer is provided to be positioned over the waist band of a pair of pants where the slot 38 is provided to engage the bottom edge of a belt that is around the waist band of the pair of pants.

Looking at FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, to shape the panel 10 into a gun holster, the panel is bent along fold lines 17 to form a pocket for a gun and the pocket is held in position by strap 26 being placed in the buckle 30 and looped around where the loop material on the strap engages the hook material on the large square of hook material 18. The use of the single strap 26 allows a user to simply adjust the self adhering strap to the outside of the holster for different model guns of the same length. At this time the loop material on the keeper means 32 is attached to the large square of loop material 18 on the outer surface of the panel 10. The keeper means allows the height of the gun holster to be adjusted as it is carried on the inside of the pants of a user. At the same time the keeper means also allows the user to adjust the canter, the pitch of the holster's position. For example the gun holster can allow for different positions from the 12 O'clock to the 3 O'clock angle for left handed individuals and between the 12 O'clock to the 9 O'clock position for a right handed person, and any position in between.

The gun holster disclosed allows the user to carry almost any gun of the same length in the holster such as a gun of four and half inches or less.

The gun holster here disclosed, by using a strap system, allow the user to simply adjust the self adhering strap to the outside of the holster for different model guns of the same length, A primary feature of the gun holster is the ability to adjust the height that the gun is carried inside the pants of the user. At the same time, the user can adjust the canter, the pitch of the holster's position. For example the gun holster can allow for different positions from a 12 O'clock to a 3 O'clock angle for left handed individuals and a 12 O'clock to a 9 O'clock angle for right handed individuals and any position in between. The gun holster may be used with a belt and looped through a belt loop. Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown a view of the front of the gun holster of FIG. 3.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention and not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments discussed were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are entitled. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A gun holster for holding a pistol inside of a person's pants comprising: a bendable panel having a front side and a rear side; fastening means having hooks or loops located diagonally across the bottom of the rear side of the panel from left to right; a strip of loop or hook material attached at one end to the bottom right corner of the fastening means and a second end which extends down beyond the edge of the panel; a buckle adapted to receive the second end of the strip attached to the front side of the panel; and keeper means having a clip that extends out from the top of the keeper means and has loops or hooks adapted to engage the fastening means; wherein a pouch is formed for receiving a pistol by bending the panel along a line located above the fastening means and attaching the second end of the strip of loop and hook material to the fastening means after threading it through the buckle; wherein the position of the keeper means on the fastening means can be varied to adjust both the height that the pistol holder is carried inside the person's pants and the canter or pitch of the pistol holster's position.
 2. The gun holder of claim 1 wherein the clip on the keeper means has a first slot and a second slot.
 3. The gun holder of claim 2 wherein the first slot is provided to be positioned over the waist band of a pair of pants.
 4. The gun holder of claim 2 wherein the second slot is provided to engage the bottom edge of a belt that is around the waist band of the pair of pants.
 5. The gun holder of claim 2 wherein the clip is made of a plastic.
 6. The gun holder of claim 5 wherein the fastening means is attached to the panel with stitching which extends around its perimeter.
 7. The gun holder of claim 5 wherein the fastening means is attached to the panel with an adhesive which extends around its perimeter.
 8. The gun holder of claim 7 wherein the adhesive is an epoxy.
 9. The gun holder of claim 6 wherein the bendable panel has a height of about nine inches more or less.
 10. The gun holder of claim 6 wherein the bendable panel has a width of about six inches more or less.
 11. The gun holder of claim 6 wherein the panel has a first layer which is the inner layer of the gun holder laminated to a second layer which is the outer layer of the gun holder.
 12. The gun holder of claim 11 wherein the inner layer is made of an abrasive resistant material.
 13. The gun holder of claim 12 wherein the inner layer is made of Gore Tex.
 14. The gun holder of claim 11 wherein the outer layer is made of a sheet of a soft fabric of cotton or wool. 